The woman has been described as between 35 and 54 years old and living in the northern part of the county.

Asked whether the woman's work or recent activities make it more or less likely the county will see more cases, Michael McNickle, the county's public health director, said community spread of COVID-19 was already occurring in Oregon.

"It would be pure speculation to say whether or not we will see more cases based on this patient's positive test," McNickle said in an email. "Community spread of COVID-19 is occurring Oregon. The likelihood that this past weekend’s throng of tourists from all parts of the state and other places is a more likely source of new and potential cases than a single patient."

McNickle said he was pleased by how county staff responded to the first reported local case of the virus.

"Once public health was informed of the positive test result, our staff immediately worked to make contact with the individual, identify any people with whom she had contact and laid out measures to isolate them to control any potential spread of the illness," he said. "I’m happy with the way our staff performed in our first COVID-19 response."

Statewide, the Oregon Health Authority reported 209 cases and eight deaths from the virus as of Tuesday morning.

Information about testing is also coming into focus.

The health authority has tracked 46 test results from Clatsop County, including the positive case.

Locally, the only data on testing had come from Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, which disclosed 29 tests as of Tuesday.

Watch this discussion.Stop watching this discussion.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.